Mini ways to say Happy Valentine’s Day!

I made mini and many cake pops for you this past weekend. I had this idea I wanted to try just using basic round pops and color to make a sweet little display. So I set out to dip enough cake pops to get the job done. That turned out to be 350 plus. Yikes. Not quite sure what I was thinking … Around number 70, I was really starting to reconsider. I thought … oh my gosh I have to make five times that many. But when I start something I can’t let it go until I get to the end and see how it works out. I know this project doesn’t help you much for this year, but I thought the heart display could totally work for a lot of other things besides Valentine’s Day.

So keep reading below for the how to… or check out my big “mini” giveaway at the end of this post. It’s a mini way for me to say Happy Valentine’s Day!

Okay, here we go.

You can’t tell in the picture, but these cake pops are tiny. Like Cake Dots instead of pops. So tiny that you use a toothpick to dip them with instead of a lollipop stick. Yes a toothpick. The cake balls are actually about the size of a penny. But they are small for a reason.

Regular size cake pops would take up a lot of table real estate.

The lollipop sticks would be much taller and people would have a harder time viewing the design from above.

I figured the proportions out so they would work on a pretty standard size piece of styrofoam to make it easier to recreate and transport.

I only had to make one cake. Score.

Mini is major cute.

I based the display design off of a template (see below) I made so that it works with a 12X18 inch or 12X20 inch sheet of styrofoam you can find in craft stores. Then I worked backwards to figure out how many cake pops you’d need to make the the shape look right. Once I had that, I knew how big to make the cake pops. Or how little.

Dip a toothpick into melted coating and then insert into a chilled cake ball.

Dip entire cake pop into the coating and then sprinkle with non-pareils. They are tiny and will be the best size for these tiny treats.

Place in styrofoam to dry.

A couple of things to note.

Use a small plastic bowl to melt the coating. You can work with a smaller amount of coating when dipping. Just melt the coating in batches as you go. Then you can take breaks and watch the Walking Dead marathon on AMC in between.

Buy more than one sheet of styrofoam. You’ll need more room than the display size so they aren’t touching each other as they dry.

Invite a friend over to help you. It will go faster and maybe your neck won’t hurt like mine does right now from looking down and dipping for so long.

I’d try Mercken’s candy coating for this project. It melts nice and fluid – you don’t want thick coating on these. It will add too much volume.

I’ve probably discouraged you already. Kind of like I felt as I was starting making these. But I had a feeling they’d be cute when I finished so I went on… like I’m going to do now. And by the way, these completely make me giddy when I see them finished on the table (looking at them now), so I guess it was worth it. And it will definitely be worth it if one of you decides to try it out some day. Hope you do… with a friend.

Use multi-color non-pareils for the second candy coating color. Minus the static.

Super cute.

When all the pops are done, prepare your display.

Wrap a 12X18 inch or 12X20 inch sheet of styrofoam with paper. I used the 19X25 inch single sheets you purchase at the craft store. You could also use wrapping paper though.

Packing tape worked best on the styrofoam to tape the paper down.

Print out the template provided centered on an 11X17 sheet of paper at somewhere like Kinko’s. The design is created for a 12X18 surface area but it is set up on 11X17 paper since that is a standard size to print. You’ll notice that some of the circles on the template are getting cropped off when they print, but that’s okay, you’ll have enough information to figure out where the pops on the perimeter should go. I hope that makes sense.

Tape the template down temporarily and use a safety pin to poke holes into the paper.

Remove the template and start arranging the cake pops using the template as a guide. Start in the middle and work your way out from the center. More than likely some of your pops will be bigger than you think and if you start at one end, left to right, they will start to tilt too much to make room as you place them in position. But if you start in the center, they will angle out equally all the way around. Again I hope that makes sense.

5,452 comments on “Mini ways to say Happy Valentine’s Day!”

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My Valentine is my husband Mike, and for Valentine’s Day we are moving into our new house! Finally, 4 years of marriage and 2 kids later, we are able to buy a home and have a place to call ours and raise a family. It’s the perfect gift since there will be a lot of love shared in that house over the years to come.
You are so talented, and I love reading about your baking creations. Hope your Valentine’s Day is a sweet one!!

My hubby is my valentine! With kids now it is hard to do much, but we are going to the movies on Saturday instead of today :)
And OMG at how many cake bites you rolled and dipped…the mind boggles! But sooooo cute!

Hi Bakerella! I just love those cute little cake pops!!
Today, I just baked heart-shaped cake pops with 3 of my dear friends.
I hope I will actually get to meet you in the future.
Bye!
Happy Valentines Day :)

I am lucky to have 4 Valentines. First is my husband Dan (we will be having dinner tonight and then mattress shopping), next are my three beautiful children (10 and 3 yr old girls and my baby boy – 1). Happy Valentines Day!!!

My Valentine today would be my lovely single self. Today I will be celebrating my 34th birthday at the bingo hall with some of my friends for the Heartbreakers Ball at the Bingo Hall. LOL. This Valentine Birthday Girl is celebrating herself this year.

My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding Anniversary this May. We don’t have anything special planned for Valentine’s day but we are going away for a long weekend, just the two of us, this coming weekend to celebrate! ( our daughter is coming home from college for the weekend to watch the dog! ) Happy Valentine’s day!

My daughter will be my valentine. Rocking the single mom thing and loving her as much as I can possibly dote upon her. We just finished 48 cupcakes for her classmates…(clearly nothing like your 350 mini pops).. And when I say we, I mean me and her supervising. Happy valentine!!! Been reading you for a long time. Love you and all you share on these pages!!

Hi, I just found your sight. I love it and your sweets. I will be spending Valentine’s with my husband of 14 years. We will go out for dinner and back home for dessert and long over due alone time. lol

My plans after work are to make homemade calzones for the family, then take my daughter and her friend and drop them off to see warm bodies:) Also havering donuts (heart shaped) delivered to dear husband during the day tomorrow:)

I will be spending Valentine’s Day with my very best Valentine – me!! I made some chocolates for me to eat and I will enjoy myself far better than any other year :) haha. i love mini. Will be making a cake tonight with my sister – may consider making mini pops for a party next week but not keen on the sore neck part :o ! Hope you feel better x

I’m going to bake you red velvet heart shaped chocolate box for my mother. She is allways there for me and this was a good reason to finally try to make it.
Love your post and ideas.
Enjoy your valentines day.
Love from holland

Hi Bakerella! Always have enjoyed your cake pops. I will be spending the evening with my precious husband of 39 years and playing games with our three children that are still at home. This is different than our usual Valentine’s as I have been very ill since Christmas, HOWEVER I have what matters with me-husband and children! Happy Valentines to you!

I have 3 Valentines! My husband, my 2 year old daughter and my unborn son!! For Valentines Day, we are seeing the Dr for a prenatal check up, then I’m cooking dinner for my wonderful family! We are also going to watch our favorite movie together, Tangled! I love quality family time! Happy Valentines Day!

My valentines are the 3 guys in my life. My husband, my 6 year old son and my 2 year old son. Our plans- I’m making heart shaped scrambles eggs for breakfast, taking my heart shaped cake pops to my sons class, then coming home and make steak dinner for the family.

My Valentine is my amazing husband. We are one of the few who do not celebrate “v” day….we actually celebrate the day we became boyfriend & girlfriend 15 yrs ago this month. He is the love of my life (besides our two beautiful daughters). cute mini pops! Great idea….thanks for the awesome giveaway! Hope you have a nice V day :)

My husband is my valentine! But this year he is out at sea working a cargo ship. :(
However, my children will keep me company! We’ll probably watch a movie after dinner and I got them each a little candy heart for their valentine gift.

This year I have an old valentine, my husband of five years, and a new one, my baby of five months.
We are all going out for dinner with friends for a group bash and my sneaky husband has planned something for me during the day that is a surprise.

I have my husband and our two beautiful daughters. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
My husband and i actually don’t celebrate Valentines day we celebrate our anniversary that we became boyfriend and girlfriend 2/21/98. 15 amazing years! :)